kurthicks

'tis craig peak. it lies somewhat south of Ice lake. the rock is granite on the east ridge (5th class granite in oregon, no way!) but it looks like there are some easier routes on the other faces and ridges.

We found 2 chopped ropes (by rockfall?) low on the North face yesterday. PM me if they are yours and i'll return them if you still want them. hope everyone got down OK... Kurt

basically do we have to drive in from Silverton (the north) or come up from 2 (the south)?

well, i don't dave. make me one and i'll give it a shot.

mark (and john and Roj and everyone else), tell BD to start making a spring leash.

hoping to head in there tomorrow... any beta on the best way to get there (as I heard that the road is closed somewhere)? any idea of the amount of snow, if any, on the approach? thanks, Kurt

one of the 5.8 routes left of sky ridge at Smiff.

ckouba and i climbed it wednesday of last week. we passed the schrund on the left side. it was unprotectable, short of burying a picket about 10' below the crux moves. ckouba leading the step in question.

yep. Colin and Mark were just kicking it at 14k when I left. They were busy scrounging food, skiing, and telling all sorts of inappropriate, but hillarious, jokes. The forecast was wrong nearly every day we were at 14k (calling for bad wx, but getting good wx), so no one was really going for big routes until Jedi and Evan went over to the Cassin. the boys were right at home chatting it up with all the ladies that were unfortunate enough to walk by...

sportiva nuptse 44.5. used one denali trip. one minor repair where a eyelet blew out. just not psyched on the fit for me. $300 camp ice rider crampons. used but in good shape. $25 marmot precip jacket. mens medium. new with tags. black. $60 2 BD reactors. used on one route. couple of scratches on the shafts and one dinged pick. $250. pics tomorrow if requested. bellingham area pickup or I will ship if you pay shipping. offers will be considered for sure. Kurt

take your bike Bala!

as of yesterday, the sherpa still goes pretty easily and does not require a jump or rappel. we downclimbed easy snow over a bridge right in the middle of the schrund. the ice cliff schrund is only passable, and probably not for much longer, on the left side. the rock up there looks pretty dry... lots of mosquitos out!

sahale - quien sabe glacier, but you'll have to walk the road (good training though)

colfax? PM me if you're interested, I might have some time for a day trip.

It was my experience that bringing an extra pound or 2 of insulation (between the jacket and the bag) are worth it since you know you'll stay warm in whatever conditions. After all, when you're already hauling 100lbs of crap up there, what difference is 2 more?

now that's some good news. hopefully the NPS can get the Cascade Pass road open sometime earlier than anticipated...

the only bummer about the wheelbarrow is that the wheel is illegal in Wilderness areas, except for differentially abled visitors (e.g. a wheelchair). Perhaps you could try one of these:

Overtraining is what killed my college cross/track career. It used to be all negative splits, 70 mile weeks, lots of intervals, etc. 6-7 days/week of hard workouts and races from 800m to 10 miles, but now I can barely get motivated to train at all. now: monday-tuesday: 2-3 PBRs/night Wednesday: micro night thurs: 2 Deschutes Fri: drive to trailhead or crag. 1-3 tall boys. sat-sun: SEND! * I do walk a couple miles each day to/from work, uphill both ways (it is possible), but the best training for climbing is climbing, oh and doing lots of (liquid) carbo loading.

I would venture to guess that there will be less hikers (and perhaps climbers) willing to make the extra 6 mile roundtrip walk, hence parking won't be as much of an issue as you expect.

You're in God School? how does one get admitted to that? It sounds hard (and apparently unhealthy).

We replaced about 8 TR bolts (some of the old bolts didn't get removed today, so if I don't get to it before I leave please do it properly)--we replaced 5.5 crack(1), steep face(1), subterfuge(2), and a few off on the right side. we also bolted 3 lead routes (some were rebolted after having been chopped long ago) -- subterfuge(3), Razorblades(4), and the 5.7 face/slab(3) on the right end. all are 3/8 x 3" bomber bolts. I also bolted a lead route to the right of Rotten Crack last week; it goes around 5.10a-b from what the going consensus is. thanks mtnmouse for coming out! nice to meet you. Kurt

if i recall correctly.

IIRC, he's probably old enough to legally drink beer now. post away Russ!

nice photos russ. i'm sure i've got a good one of you from Baker last summer...